Within two weeks, Predictive Networks will move into the high-tech 101 Corridor, specifically into 200 N. Westlake Blvd. in Westlake Village, and will initiate a new way of making “cookies.”
The software company is opening the facility because of the strong pool of highly skilled labor in the area. Bill Calle, formerly head of a creativity group at Disney Interactive, will direct development operations.
Predictive Networks is looking to surpass what is now conventional cookie technology.
In the online world, “cookies” are utilities that marketers place on users’ PCs to store information about the users and their online activities. Cookies have become an issue in the privacy debate and are of concern to individuals, consumer advocates and even Congress.
Cookies mimic the traditional way advertisers collect data about Internet users and consumers in general. They provide demographic information, such as age, gender, income, education, etc.
Typically, the information is treated as if it were static and as if the people described never change.
Consumer research has consistently reported that almost nobody likes the idea of being monitored. Worse, they are fearful that their personal data will be distributed across the Net, opening them up to an array of potential abuses.
Predictive Networks develops software that lets advertisers target consumers in a new way. Using artificial intelligence to make inferences about Web-surfing behavior, it looks at what people do, not who they are.
“The key to our software is that it doesn’t need to know anything factual about you,” explained Gus Bickford, Predictive Networks spokesman. “Instead, with your permission, it looks at your surfing and makes inferences about what ads you would be interested in, based on the sites you visit and the pages you read.”
According to Bickford, information about behavior is more valuable than traditional demographic data because the same ad is not of equal value to people in the same income, educational or age group. Rather, interests and shopping and spending patterns are much better indicators to guide a company’s marketing efforts.
“The software creates what we call a digital silhouette, based on 145 possible characteristics. It is one point in the entire space of your personal universe,” Bickford said. “As you continue to Web surf, the software modifies your silhouette to reflect the new information. So it’s dynamic, changing as your interests and activities change. But it still doesn’t know any ‘facts’ as such about you.”
While people will undoubtedly still abhor being monitored, they may be more accepting of having their surfing destinations disclosed rather than their demographic identity.
MGM’s Digital Buy
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. has just purchased four digital storage systems from Archion, the high-end storage company. The systems will enable MGM to keep more than 1.5 terabytes online at any given time. That’s a lotta data.
“Some of the new digital editing systems can now handle two streams of uncompressed footage, which is creating a higher demand for storage. Previously, most work was done in compressed formats,” explained Shane Wilhoite, Archion’s chief financial officer.
Archion’s Fibre Channel RAIDBay and the Archion Fibre Channel ARRAYBay are now widely used in the entertainment industry. In addition to MGM, other companies using the systems include CBS TV’s “Touched by an Angel” series, Aspect Television, Spyglass Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount Pictures/Lakeshore Entertainment and Warner Bros./Bel-Air Entertainment.
RAID stands for redundant array of inexpensive disks. It provides relatively efficient and low-cost access to a large volume of material. For example, one of the systems that MGM purchased for the upcoming movie “Windtalkers” will hold the estimated 1 million feet of film that the project is expected to require. Another important consideration is the protection of material against loss. Hardware systems like those sold by Archion store data so it can be reassembled, even if there is a hard drive failure.
Bruce Markoe, MGM’s senior vice president of post production, said, “As MGM ramps up its most robust film slate in years, the company has looked for ways to efficiently streamline its post-production process. This purchase not only represents significant cost savings to MGM over renting, but further provides us with unrestrained access to cutting-edge, state-of-the-art digital storage systems for all future MGM releases.”
Good Grief
When Charles Monagas’ favorite aunt died, he was unable to travel to the funeral.
“It hit me hard, and I kept thinking there must be a different way that we could remember loved ones. I realized that the Web offered that way and, little by little, I put everything together,” explained Monagas.
Now, two years later, the West Hills-based entrepreneur has launched the Eternal Gateway Web site (www.eternalgateway.com) that offers a perpetual online memorial to those who have died. The site is well thought out, offering a number of interesting services in addition to the memorial page. Users can send condolences, choose music from a variety of audio files to accompany their choice of card and add a personalized message. On the memorial page, they can light a virtual candle, place virtual wreaths and flowers, and add their own thoughts, feelings and memories.
The cost of a standard memorial page is a one-time fee of $59.95, plus $20 per year for maintenance. The enhanced version lets users attach video, audio and extensive graphics to the page. The set-up charge is $179.95, with the same $20 annual maintenance cost. The site also offers free memorial space to people who died in the service of their country or community police officers, firefighters and military personnel.
Family Entertainment Picks
Major media and entertainment companies are becoming more and more sophisticated in their use of the Web as an adjunct to marketing and promotion.
The debut of Walt Disney Pictures’ “102 Dalmatians” last week is celebrated by the site, www.102dalmations.com, with games and activities, such as painting the spots on a sad, spotless Dalmatian puppy, downloading screensavers and sending greeting cards.
Contributing columnist Joan Van Tassel has covered technology since 1990. Her book, “Digital TV Over Broadband: Harvesting Bandwidth,” will be published in December by Focal Press.
